


Small Compromise

by MaK



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, High School AU, Humanstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-19
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-10 01:48:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4372481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaK/pseuds/MaK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>anonymous prompted:<br/>"ooh ooh i have a rosemary prompt! awkward teens in love with each other but don't want to admit it until the whole planet shouts at them 'just kiss already GOD'"</p>
<p>So, some awkward teens in love with each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Small Compromise

As much as their overlapping friend groups joked about it and prodded for the two of them to _finally_ get together, the reality was that, as soon as the conversation got brought up (as it so frequently did as of late), both Kanaya and Rose would laugh it off nervously despite both privately admitting that, hey, getting together might not be such a bad idea. Rose had been the one to take a small leap of faith and bring it up while the two of them were texting in different classes, though in somewhat of a joking fashion that, though while taking a small step closer to _something_ , ultimately lead to nothing:

The talk at lunch was fairly embarrassing, wasn't it?  
I Have No Knowledge Of The Talk That Youre Referencing  
What?  
Oh. You're just being coy.  
Ha Ha  
Well Im Not Sure Coy Is The Best Word  
Feigning modesty in hopes of coming off as charming isn't befitting of the situation?  
Err I Suppose It Could Be  
Right. Anyway, as I was saying,  
It was embarrassing, wasn't it?  
Yes  
Though I Believe Its A Sort Of Funny Topic To Entertain  
Not The Laughing Type Of Funny But The Interesting Kind Of Funny  
To entertain? You've thought about it before?  
Uh  
I Meant More Like During A Conversation Ha Ha  
Oh, my mistake. Haha.

And by ultimately leading to nothing, more so meaning: leading to more awkwardness than there was beforehand. Rose had been hoping, though she realized in a somewhat dimwitted way, that, with as many (trashy) romantic novels Kanaya spent their time reading, the teen would be a little more... _gallant_ when it came to things such as relationships. Though, at the same time, Rose realized it was quite idiotic to be putting all the pressure on her friend rather than doing anything about it herself. 

Besides, she reasoned, it was quite obvious the two of them were, at least to some extent, " _interested_ " in one another. The biggest problem, Rose imagined, was that she had no idea just how Kanaya viewed her on that sort of thing. It was possible that she had been reading all the signs right and Kanaya was just as ready to hop into a relationship as she was, but it was also just as likely she'd mistaken their acts of kindness for ones of flirting. Or, though somewhat unlikely, Kanaya was just playing along with all their friends so not to make the conversation anymore awkward than it already was and Rose had gotten caught up in the act; such a case of events wasn't all that probable, seeing as Kanaya was probably one of the quickest out of all of them to leave or outright end an uncomfortable conversation they had no interest in continuing - however, Rose continued to think, could that mean that, if Kanaya was comfortable enough to entertain the conversation of the two of them dating (even though most of it was jokes), did that mean Kanaya wasn't totally _against_ the idea of them getting together? _Was_ Kanaya actually wanting something to happen between the two of them? And, as wonderful as all that would be to think about, Rose was careful about getting her hopes up; on the 50/50 chance Kanaya actually wasn't interested, she didn't want to be terribly crestfallen and, in a worst case scenario, make their friendship terribly awkward.

Though cowardice would be easy to fall into, Rose was determined to make another effort to drop more hints Kanaya's way about the two of them dating. Though she was almost horrifically good at feigning the action while talking with John or Dave, Rose wasn't really all that much of an expert on _actual_ flirting, but the running joke was that the two of them used innumerable amounts of sarcasm and snark to converse romantically, so maybe that would work just as well - at least, that's what Rose figured. Best case scenario: Kanaya catches on. Worst case scenario: Kanaya thinks they're just having another conversation and Rose laughs it off to try again later. It couldn't go _terribly_.

Rose waited until sixth period to make any sort of effort at conversing, though. She figured she had most of her plan thoroughly thought out: for one, the two of them would be mostly alone during their study hall session in the library, for two, she could easily bring up the book she knew Kanaya was reading (some old book about girls in a sorority, a rare diversion from novels with vampires but it was about two girls in an affair and Rose figured that was a good way to bring up such a conversation), for three, well, Rose imagined that it would play out from there. If she began talking about fictional lesbians and non-heterosexual relationships, maybe she could slowly cross the threshold of _being_ in a non-heterosexual (gay) relationship. With Kanaya, that is. Hopefully, anyway.

"Hey," Rose greeted, dropping in the seat close to her (study) partner. She made an attempt at calming herself (though she was sure that, on the exterior, she looked as poised as ever) by pulling out a science textbook and a notepad, as if she was about to take notes (even though school was out in little under three weeks and almost every final had been taken care of). 

Kanaya, without looking up from their book, smiled and replied, "Sup."

_Shit._ Maybe they would be too distracted to really care for conversation, Rose worried - but, no, she wouldn't be giving up quite yet. If Kanaya's responses remained curt and short, then she'd get the message and quit trying to bring it up for awhile. Again; worst case scenario: she talks about it again tomorrow. No big deal.

Spending a moment to idly write a few words down on the notepad, Rose pursed her lips and then contemplated the best way to bring up the book Kanaya had under their nose. She had to be smooth about it, not too abrupt, but not _too_ smooth to come off as odd. (It was possible she was overthinking this.) "What's the book you're reading?" she tried, smiling and then trying not to, because she wasn't sure if a smile would come off as too strange or not. She decided, after a moment, it wouldn't, and then smiled, before realizing that, yes, it would, and then adopted an emotionless expression. (She was definitely overthinking this.)

"Oh!" Kanaya looked up and smiled (Rose did the same in return), dog-earring the page in their book before handing it over so Rose could look at the cover. "It's _Odd Girl Out_ , apparently it's the start of this series that, I imagine, follows a similar story line of one girl, who is somewhat quiet and attracted to those who have more social dominance, ending up with this other girl, who is socially dominant and wondering why men aren't all that interesting to her. I just started it, so I'm not all that sure where it's going to end up going, but I believe the two of them - Beth and Laura - are going to have an affair behind this boy's back. Right now, it's mostly just Beth teasing Laura for the effect she knows she has on her, but I think it will be escalating soon," Kanaya beams, clearly excited about the plot of the novel. Rose, though only mildly interested, tries to figure how she can relate the same thing to the two of them. Could she possibly make a reference to herself being the socially dominant one? Though, that would suggest Kanaya was shy to some degree, which wasn't entirely true and could possibly come off as offensive, so... _Damn_.

She hands the book back over and only manages to say, "Sounds nice." _God_ , that's lame. Kanaya doesn't seem to mind or pay too much attention to the comment as they return back to their reading, but Rose worries that they'll eventually notice the heat in her face or how clammy she feels. _Shit, shit, shit_! Maybe she should have spent more time reading WikiHow articles about how to talk to your crush. _Shit._

And, while Rose tries to figure out another way to hint at them dating, sixth period passes far too soon and she's resigned to bring it up tomorrow.

-

The best route (or, rather, the only _obvious_ route) was to try referencing the book again. Rose spent at least half an hour reading up on the novel, which mostly consisted of her rereading wikipedia's [article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odd_Girl_Out_\(novel\)) about _Odd Girl Out_. The only thing she really figured is that there's going to be an unsatisfying ending, seeing as the plot is finally summed up with, "Beth says her goodbyes to Laura and rushes off to catch Charlie." What's the point of Beth goes to be with Charlie if not with Laura? Either way, Kanaya's not going to be too happy with such an ending, but hopefully they haven't gotten all the way through it yet and Rose can still use it as a conversation starter.

Or, well, she would and was more than prepared to bring it up, if it weren't for the change that Kanaya sprung up on her. Instead of _Odd Girl Out_ in their hands, there was another illustrated cover that was most definitely not the book from yesterday. 

Still. Rose could work with this. Probably. 

"You finished that other book already?" she prompted, taking her seat as casually as possible. Likely too casually. Definitely too casually, but it's not as if she could get up and seat herself again without being seen as a disturbance, so Rose resigned herself to being sat _too_ casually in her usual seat. 

(She was definitely still overthinking this.)

Kanaya nodded, but made no attempt at explaining what they were currently reading or bringing up anything about the previous book that may have been unsatisfactory. Instead, they just kept their eyes on the page, only offering a small smirk in response to Rose's greeting; so, at least, she could grasp that she wasn't being a nuisance. That wasn't necessarily a _good_ sign, but it wasn't a _bad_ one... so...

She coughed, "Perhaps another novel about women in affairs?" 

"Why, Rose," Kanaya glanced up quickly (though they didn't _look_ up, which Rose thought might be a bad sign, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions too early). "With how much interest you're expressing for girls pursuing dalliances between one another, one could go as far as to question that - perhaps - you're curious about such a scenario happening between yourself and someone you know." 

Well, firstly, Rose wasn't precisely sure as to what a _dalliance_ was, but she could put two and two together and figure it out well enough. Secondly, _curious_ wasn't quite the right word, but that wasn't terribly important. If she understood correctly, Kanaya possibly just made a hint at the two of them... having a dalliance. Which was, probably, a sort of relationship, likely similar to that of an affair? Or was a dalliance and an affair two different things? _Shit_! 

"Uh." 

Kanaya's face flushed a light shade of pink and they set their book on the table, glancing off to the corner while laughing slightly, "Haha. I, um... May have been a little forward there. I'm not all that well versed in terms of actual flirting. I didn't mean to confuse you or make you uncomfortable." 

"You didn't make me uncomfortable!" Rose exclaimed, then quickly quieted herself. "I was just surprised, is all."

And, probably inevitably, the atmosphere nicely settled into an awkward silence.

Rose resigned herself to staring off at the corner of the table while trying to figure out a quick witted response that wouldn't come off as rude, though she realized it was hard for it to be _quick_ witted when nearly ten minutes had passed since the two of them last spoke. Maybe it'd be better if she just waited 'til tomorrow to try again and make another, hopefully smoother, attempt at bringing up the conversation. She blushed and pretended to distract herself with her phone instead of having to deal with the possibility of more delicate conversation.

A few minutes after texting John about her success - the lack thereof, that is - thus far, she patiently awaited for the buzz of her phone to alert her of his response. It came fast enough and she was relieved that she'd have something else to pay attention to.

So Uh

Or not!

Would You Like To Go Out  
With Me I Mean

_Shit_!

Rose looked up to gauge the other's reaction, only to see Kanaya's face flushing a serious red while pointedly staring down at their book. 

That'd be nice.  
Oh Thank God

**Author's Note:**

> send me some rosemary prompts on my [tumblr](http://www.rosemarytrash.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
